Karl Horst Hödicke

Karl Horst Hödicke is an eminent figure in the realm of contemporary German art, particularly celebrated for his contributions to Neo-Expressionist painting. Hödicke's distinguished brushwork, paired with a unique chromatic scheme emphatically recalls specific locales. Berlin's dynamic urban landscape for exmaple stands prominently as a recurrent theme in his oeuvre. Upon relocating to Berlin in 1957, Hödicke emerged as a vocal advocate amongst a niche assembly of avant-garde intellects, keen on radically redefining the landscape of painting. As German post-war modernism was reintegrating into the global inclination toward abstractionism, Hödicke audaciously championed a renaissance of figurative painting, challenging the then emerging paradigms that deemed it archaic. Consequently, Hödicke's pioneering efforts positioned him at the forefront of German Neo-Expressionism and New Figuration, sharing this platform with luminaries such as Georg Baselitz, Jörg Immendorf, and A.R. Penck. He played a seminal role in the inception and propulsion of the 'Neue Wilde' or 'Junge Wilde' movement in 1978, which burgeoned in the German-speaking domain as a counter-narrative to the prevailing minimalist and conceptual trends.